<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>All of My Enemies Started Out Friends by DogsAreTheBest312</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24844438">All of My Enemies Started Out Friends</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DogsAreTheBest312/pseuds/DogsAreTheBest312'>DogsAreTheBest312</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I Promise That You'll Never Find Another Like Me [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Academy Era, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Canon Compliant, Friends to Enemies, Gallifreyan Culture (Doctor Who), Gen, No Dialogue, Song: The Archer (Taylor Swift), not a songfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:16:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,307</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24844438</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DogsAreTheBest312/pseuds/DogsAreTheBest312</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They were the best of friends growing up on Gallifrey. But somewhere along the line, something happened and they drifted apart. A look back at the relationship between the Time Lords known as The Doctor and The Master, starting when they were Theta Sigma of Lungbarrow and Koschei of Oakdown.</p><p>
  <em>All the king's horses, all the king's men<br/>Couldn't put me together again<br/>'Cause all of my enemies started out friends<br/>Help me hold onto you</em>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>The Doctor &amp; The Master (Doctor Who), The Doctor | Theta Sigma &amp; The Master | Koschei (Doctor Who: Academy Era)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I Promise That You'll Never Find Another Like Me [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1732978</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>All of My Enemies Started Out Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>With this fic, I officially declare this series halfway finished! I’m honestly surprised I’ve been getting these out so quickly. I’d given myself a due date of one year for all of them, yet I’m 50% done in a month and a half.</p><p>I’ve taken a couple creative liberties with this one, so if you have any information on Gallifreyan society take it, put it in a box, and stick that box in storage for the next couple minutes. Done? Good.</p><p>The majority of this is set during The Doctor and The Master’s Academy days.</p><p>Song of the fic: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KpKc3C9V3w">“The Archer” by Taylor Swift</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They met their first day at The Academy, both eight years old. Their fathers were the heads of Lungbarrow and Oakdown, two of the oldest and most prominent houses on Gallifrey. And while the two patriarchs often conversed after High Council meetings, their sons’ paths had never crossed. Due to their families’ political status the two boys were roommates, and they became fast friends. Theta Sigma and Koschei were inseparable during their beginning years of study. However, while they had many similarities, those around them could not help but notice all the differences.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Theta enjoyed Koschei’s company. They were so alike and came from similar backgrounds. He looked forward to their time at The Academy. Sure, his friend was a little brash or abrasive at times, but wasn’t everyone? Maybe Koschei would warm up more once they were settled in. Yes, he would.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Their studies were a perfect example of how they were the same yet different, and one that was apparent immediately. Both boys were easily among the smartest in their class, but Koschei was just barely passing while Theta did just well enough to receive top marks. The reason, however, was what really set the two boys apart. Koschei thought the work to be beneath him, not important enough for him to bother with. Theta , on the other hand, simply didn’t feel challenged enough by the work. By age seventeen he was looking at books for students decades ahead of him. He studied because he found it interesting, and did as well as he did because he could. However, he much preferred to go beyond the assignment and do independent study on the subject, which is what kept him from getting perfect scores.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Theta tried several times to convince his friend to put effort in his studies, but Koschei wouldn’t listen. Nothing he said could convince him that studying was important and enjoyable. Theta simply shrugged and let it go. If his friend wanted to miss out on interesting information, so be it.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Due to their families’ status, they constantly had others watching them and their progress. Theta was under slightly higher scrutiny after his brother was appointed as Lord Cardinal when they were twenty-four. They both knew they were expected to follow their families’ expectations and become politicians. While the once-rebellious Koschei was warming up to the idea, Theta was not. The more he learned about other species, especially the humans of Sol III, the more he wanted to walk among them. He wanted to learn their ways of life, see the universe through their eyes. Whenever he brought up these thoughts to Koschei, however, his friend scoffed at him. They were Time Lords. Other species were beneath them. Whatever fantasies his friend came up with were just the foolish endeavors of the young. He’d grow out of it soon.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Theta couldn’t understand or imitate the way his friend thought. But he knew Koschei was too stubborn to have his mind changed. He let it go, not wanting to risk their friendship. As the years went on, however, he couldn’t help but notice when that friendship started to fade anyway.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>As the decades passed, the differences in their similarities became more and more obvious. By the time they were fifty-seven, it was well known that both loved a healthy debate. But while Theta always looked at the morality of an issue and based his proposal on that, Koschei claimed he was better than his opponent, therefore making his viewpoint correct. Theta helped others because it was right, not expecting anything in return. Koschei did favors because the other person would now be in his debt, and he was quick to remind them when he was in need of something. They both were interested in other worlds and civilizations, something very unusual among the reclusive Time Lords. But while Theta wanted to learn about other peoples’ values and observe them, Koschei wanted to learn their weaknesses and how to conquer them.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Theta was troubled by Koschei’s view of other civilizations, far more than he was willing to admit. What purpose would conquering other peoples have? Gallifrey was not in need of anything that could not be obtained on-planet. Even if they were, he was sure that peaceful negotiations could be made.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>More decades passed, and the differences between the two young men became even more apparent, not only to others around them but the students themselves. They entered their final decade of The Academy, and it seemed like they could never agree on any topic. Morals, politics, meals, clothes, nothing seemed to be too complex or too trivial a topic for them to argue about. The debates ranged from pointed looks and backhanded comments to shouting matches their whole floor could hear. When they were ninety-six, the two stopped speaking altogether for several weeks, resulting in great discomfort for anyone who was unfortunate enough to find themselves with both at the same time.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Theta wasn’t sure he knew his friend anymore. They both had changed so much since that day they met decades ago. Or maybe they’d been different all along, and he’d just been too blind to see it. As their graduation loomed closer, he fought to urge to check the timelines.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Then the time came for them to choose their Names, months before graduation, which led to their worst fight ever. Theta wanted to take the name Doctor. A healer, a scholar, someone you could trust. Someone who would care for you when you needed them. Koschei wanted to take the name Master. A conqueror, a superior, someone you must obey. Someone who would tell you what to do and how to do it. Theta criticized Koschei for the superiority and morality of his choice. Koschei insulted Theta for the lack of ambition in his. They argued in circles for hours, neither backing down while attacking the other. They spent their last semester before graduation avoiding each other at all parts of the day and as much of the night as possible. They barely spoke fifty words between them. When they graduated at one hundred, they didn’t even share a glance.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Theta, now known as The Doctor, sometimes missed his old friend. But they’d chosen very different paths in life, and they both had to accept that. He once thought that Koschei would come with him and travel around the universe, but not anymore. They were too different, yet the same.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>They met after graduation, of course they did. But they no longer treated the other as friend. The Master tried desperately to do what he wanted: conquer. The Doctor protected innocents from someone he used to trust with his life. Back and forth the two went, neither truly getting the upper hand on the other. While The Master never held back against his old friend, The Doctor could never bring himself to truly bring down someone he used to trust above all others. Again and again they battled, until both got lost in the Time War. But as always, their similarities had differences. The Master ran, hid, turned himself into something he hated in order to survive. The Doctor fought, destroyed, did the one thing he’d promised to never do: hurt others.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Hundreds of years after they graduated and after countless confrontations, The Doctor stood on a beach, yet again saying goodbye. He watched as the flames turned the body of his oldest friend to ash. For the third time in his life, The Doctor felt completely and truly alone. He wondered when it all had gone wrong. Once again, he’d let himself think that he found someone who understands him, someone he can trust, someone who will stay with him during his travels. But just as he let himself have hope, the universe reminded him that he’s cursed to be alone.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I know my personification of both of them might be off for the First Doctor and the first on-screen Master, but I’ve never seen Classic Who, so forgive me.</p><p>I cried the first time I heard this song. Not full on bawling (that honor is reserved for another song on this album, and will be the hardest one-shot to write) but tearing up. This hit even harder when <em>Miss Americana</em> came out. I think it’s something everyone can relate to. You’ve hurt other people and you’ve been hurt.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>